On to the other “private” cemetery out at Chacarita, following on my little writeup of the German Cemetery, today, the British Cemetery. Originally, in 1822, this graveyard was located in the Retiro area, on the side of the Socorro church along Juncal, at Suipacha. Eleven years later it was moved to Victoria street, in Once, now called Hipolito Yrigoyen street, where it became known as the Victoria Cemetery, as part of the St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. In 1892 the official cemetery was opened in its current location at the back of Chacarita, and the Victoria was left to gradually be paved and planted over. It was basically forgotten until the 1960s when construction crews unearthed it while creating the current day Plaza 1 de Mayo, and after much negotiating the majority of graves, or at least the long buried tombstones and markers, were moved to a wall in the current location. There is still, apparently, a plaque commemorating the cemetery at the Victoria site, and a fair amount of speculation that many graves were left unmoved.
Overall, it’s a pretty little cemetery – not near as well landscaped and such as the more formal German counterpart – and much seems haphazard. There is also no apparent British requirement to entry – the cemetery is home to a large Armenian population, a large Jewish section, and a variety of others, scattered hither and thither. Not having set out with any particular agenda, I missed out on some of the more famous burials, and just snapped a few random shots….
First up, the Bridges family. I knew the name of Thomas Bridges was familiar when I saw it but chalked it up to just being a more or less common name. However, when checking out the name, I realized that he was an Anglican minister, the first missionary, and actually, one of the first white people, to head into Tierra del Fuego to stay – and was the founder of Estancia Harberton, which I visited on my Ushuaia trip last year. Also buried in the same plot are his second son (and the third “native white Ushuaian”, his older brother having been the first, and someone else, the second), Estaban Lucas, noted author of Uttermost Part of the Earth, the first book about the native populations of Tierra del Fuego, Lucas’ wife, Jannette, and his grandson, Percival William Reynolds, a naturalist who is best known for his works on the birds of the area, as well as partnering with his grandfather in creating the estancia.
Next up, a bit of royalty and nobility – Guillermo de Achaval, Spanish Ambassador to Argentina and his wife, the Princesa Maria Pia de Borbon, who were actually married in the church Nuestra Señora del Pilar here in my ‘hood. Buried here as well, Maria’s daughter Isabel Padilla y Borbon, who became a famous architect here in town, as well as director of the Enrique Larretta Spanish Art Museum; her husband, Jose Manuel Berretta Moreno, a local lawyer, and, if I’ve read what I could find, Maria’s other, I gather, second, husband, Rafael Padilla y Avila, a writer from Tucumán. I may have the chronology slightly wrong – the two husbands thing isn’t all that clear.
Simply intriguing. No last name, just a first, “Bill”, and apparently remembered quite fondly for his loyalty and nobility – I have to admit, the inscription reads almost like a tribute to a family’s canine companion….
As I mentioned, there’s an entire Jewish section, with both monuments and small gravesites behind, along the wall.
And, a section of the aforementioned memorial wall/section from the Victoria Cemetery.
One additional note of interest, just discovered in passing while searching for info on those above and some of the other photos I took, apparently, there’s a Jack the Ripper connection. Like many, I have no more than a cursory knowledge of Jack, and a good percentage of it gleaned from unreliable sources like TV shows, movies, etc. But apparently there was some connection to Buenos Aires – one or more of the suspected Jacks having been thought to have headed here. Following the casebook trail linked above might make an interesting wander in and of itself….
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